I seemed to have got my very first ear infection this week, which came and seemingly went. That made my extremely busy two days off of work even more interesting. Tuesday I went in for an audition, did some packing and other errands, and played Call of Cthulhu with the boys. Wednesday I biked to UBC for my weekly textbook reading, then biked to East Van for a callback, then biked back to Kits for a meeting with Mike about the music video for “A Marine Biologist” and then biked back to East Van for movies and games with Stephane & Sheri. “Short Circuit” is not a good movie. But I’ve been taping stuff like mad off of Turner Classic Movies – faster than I can watch them. I’ve got a pile of VHS tapes to go through, including Blow-Up, Greed, Psycho, Curse of the Demon, Fail Safe and some others.
Sequelbots – Transform!
So I just got back from seeing Transformers. Warning: Spoilertron!
Cons:
– Extremely Hollywood (this is only a con if you’re not expecting and wanting it to be Hollywood, which I think at least everyone is expecting it).
– When I saw the early previews I noted that the bots looked excessively pointy and “cool” – I got used to that throughout the movie but I still think they could have been at least distinguished more by colour or shape – they all looked very similar and it was hard to tell who was fighting whom, sometimes.
– Weak plot overall.
– They didn’t get Frank Welker to voice Megatron, and there’s no good reason.
Pros:
– Best robots fighting you’ve ever seen.
– Unexpectedly good jokes.
– Lots of good “wow” moments, if you’re in to that sort of thing.
– They did get Peter Cullen to voice Optimus Prime.
In short, definitely worth seeing on the big screen, and you can’t go wrong with The Rio.
ps – the original Jazz was voiced by Scatman “The Shining” Crothers, who as you may know died some time ago.
Movies Movies Movies! And Additional Movies! …of the latter half of 2007.
Movies to see: SICKO, Ratatouille, Knocked Up (at the Rio), Transformers.
Live Free Die Hard is getting good ratings, so I might see it after I’ve seen all of the above.
Not much of a trailer, but here’s what they’ve got for the next Pixar film, about a robot, WALL-E
Also, does anyone know anything about this Will Smith film “I Am Legend?” I have a soft spot for last man on earth films, but not vampire films.
Also also – anyone seen Sunshine?
By the way – I know it’s a way off but the new Coen Brothers film opens in wide release in November. It’s called No Country for Old Men and [here] are 5 clips. If you watch only one of them, make it the second clip.
Movies: Do and Do Nots
I’m going to quickly go through some movies that you could, if you wanted to, go and see in the theaters right now, and whether or not that would be a mistake.
Pirates of the Caribbean: mistake
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer: big mistake
28 Weeks Later: not a mistake
Hot Fuzz: not a mistake
Paris, J’taime: not a mistake
Spider-Man 3: mistake
Sharkwater: not a mistake
Paprika: hopefully definitely not a mistake
Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman: hopefully not a mistake
Sicko, Michael Moore’s new flick about the US health system, should be opening very soon.
1000 Movies
I did it! Even discounting the handful of TV shows on the list, I’ve still rated on over 1000 movies on imdb.com
Recent viewings: The Best Years of Our Lives (8/10 …I would go 8.5 even); Ball of Fire (8/10 silly and great, you know the scientist from the Bugs Bunny super-rabbit cartoon? Modelled off of one of the old professors in this film. Stewie calls it Revenge of the Geriatric Nerds); House of Usher (7/10 barely); Jack the Giant Killer (4/10 Harryhausen, but more like Krofft Supershow); Three Worlds of Gulliver (6/10); To Have and Have Not (8/10 Lauren Bacall defines sultry); Young Sherlock Holmes (5/10 – too much like Harry Potter meets Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom).
Get Some Corn…And Movie Time
Only 47 movies left to go! Since last I wrote I’ve seen 28 Weeks Later (about as good as the first), Matchstick Men (great acting but I figured out the ending and it was an ending I was hoping against), Pirate of the Caribbean 2 (only good for the action/fx), The Black Cauldron, Catch Me If You Can (good!), The Hard Way, Heat, Sin City (Terrible! I actually couldn’t watch it all the way through so I guess technically it doesn’t count) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Also Bloodsuckers – the intergalactic vampire hunters TV movie that has a Thickets song in it during a space battle. I’ve had the DVD that a loyal fan made me for well over a year, but I finally got around to watching it.
55 Movies to Go
Watched YANKEE DOODLE DANDY last night. More a series of musical numbers than a movie. And dull! Also watched CATCH ME IF YOU CAN which was pretty good.
Here’s my “movies to see” list these days.
25th Hour (2002 Norton/Hoffman)
Always Outnumbered 1998
Anima Mundi 1991 28 minutes Godfrey Reggio documentary 7.8
Barry Lyndon 1975 Historical Drama/Romance/War Dir: Kubric 7.8
Begotten 1991 Fantasy (B&W)5.8
Born into Brothels 2004
Breaker Morant 1980
Capote
Careful 1992 (Guy Madden) 7.8
Carnival of Souls (Herk Harvey, not Wes Craven)
Close-Up 1976 Documentary/Short (France)
Dogville (2003) lars von trier/chloe sevigny
Down by Law 1986 Comedy/Drama Tom Waits 7.5 NAR
Evidence 1995 8 minute documentary Reggio 8.3
Fiddler on the Roof 1971 Musical 7.4
First Men on the Moon 1999 Sci-Fi
Gia 1998 Drama Angelina Jolie (TV) 7.2
George Washington 2000 Drama (VIFF) 7.2
The God Who Wasn’t There docu 2005 7.2
Grey Gardens (docu)
Horror Express 1972 Horror/Mystery/Sci-Fi 6.0
King Leopolds Ghost (doc)
Leolo 1992 Comedy/Drama (Canada/France) 7.1
Living in Oblivion 1995 Comedy Steve Buscemi 7.4
Luzhin Defence 2000 Drama/Romance Turturro 7.5
Marjoe (1972)
Manhattan 1979 Woody Allen 8.2
Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky 1992 7.9
May (Denmark) 2002
Naked Man 1998 Comedy/Drama Ethan Coen 5.7
Natural History of the Chicken 2000 7.0 documentary
Next of Kin 1984 Dir: Atom Agoyan (Canadian) 7.0
Opportunists, The 2000 Walken 6.2
One Day in September 1999 documentary 8.0
Paradise Lost: Child Murders 1996 Documentary 8.4
The Party Peter Sellers
Pennies from Heaven (Steve Martin)
Planet of the Vampires (Terrore nello spazio) Mario Bava) 1965 6.4
Salesman (docu) 1969 8.2
The Savages 2007
The Score 2001 Crime/Drama/Thriller De Niro, Norton 7.0
Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb 1993 Animation/Sci-Fi 6.9
Secretary 2002 7.3
Seksmisja (Sexmission) 1984 sci-fi 7.4
Session 9 2001 Thriller/Horror 5.8
Sex: The Annabel Chong Story 1999 Documentary 5.9
Shifter (VIFF New Zealand)
Singing Detective 1986 (mini)
Somebody to Love 1994 Drama Buscemi/Tucci 5.0
Source, The 1999 Documentary Turturro 7.4
State and Main (Mamet) 2000 7.1 Hoffman
Tales from the Gimli Hospital 1988 horror 7.4
Talk to Her 2002
Thin Blue Line 1988 documentary 8.1
Towering Inferno 1974 Paul Newman, Faye Dunaway 6.3
Valley of Gwangi (scifi western)
Vanishing 88 original
Walkabout (Nicolas Roeg, 1971)
Way of the Gun
CLASSIC
Adam’s Rib 1949 Tracy/Hepburn 7.6
Ball of Fire 1941 Comedy/Romance Gary Cooper 7.8
Ben-Hur 1959 Action/Drama 8.1
Best Years of Our Lives 1946 Drama/War 8.4
Breakfast at Tiffany’s 1961 Audrey Hepburn 7.7
Charade 1963 cary grant & hepburn 8.1
Campanadas a medianoche/chimes at midnight orson welles 8.4 hist/com
Dark Intruder 1965 Horror/Mystery Leslie Nielsen 7.0
Fail-Safe 1964 7.8
Greed 1925 Drama 8.5
High Noon 1952 Thriller/Western Gary Cooper 8.3
His Girl Friday 1940
Hobson’s Choice 1954 drama 7.9
Intolerance 1916 Drama 8.3
Invaders from Mars 1953 Sci-Fi 6.3
IT! Terror from Beyond Space 1958 Horror/Sci-Fi 5.2
Kind Hearts and Coronets Alec Guinness 1949 com 8.2
Lady Vanishes (hitchcock) 1938 8
Lavender Hill Mob, The 1951 Comedy/Crime Hepburn,
Life and Death of Colonel Blimp 1943
Laura 1944 Film-Noir/Mystery (B&W) 8.2
Letter From an Unknown Woman 1948 Drama (B&W) 8.0
Lion in Winter 68 drama/historic 8.1
Louisiana Story 1948 Documentary (B&W) 8.1
M 1931 Crime/Thriller 8.7
Matter of Life and Death 1946 Fantasy/rom
Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 1962 western
Matewan 1987 drama 7.6
Midnight Cowboy 1969 Drama Dustin Hoffman 7.9
Mister Roberts 1955 comedy 8.0
On the Threshold of Space 1956 Drama 7.5
Paths of Glory 1957 Drama/War Kirk Douglas 8.7
Pit and the Pendulum, The 1961 Horror 6.7
Porgy and Bess 1959 drama 8.1
Rat Pfink a Boo Boo 1965 Comedy/Action/Thriller 3.1
Rebecca 1940 hitchcock 8.3
Room at the top 1959 8.1
Sabrina Audrey Hepburn 50’s 7.6
Searchers, The 1956 Western John Wayne 8.3
Some Like it Hot (lemmon) 1959 8.5
Strangers on a Train (hitchcock) 1951 8.1
Sullivan’s Travels!!!! 1942 Comedy 8.4
Sunrise 1927 Drama/Romance B&W 8.5
Sunset Blvd. (1950 8.6
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? 1969 Jane Fonda 7.5
To Be or Not to Be , Jack Benny 1942 8.3
Trouble in Paradise 1932 Comedy/Romance 8.4
World Without End 1956 Sci-Fi 5.5
FOREIGN
The 400 Blows (François Truffaut, 1959
Abra Los Ojos (Open Your Eyes) 1997 8.1
Aguirre: The Wrath of God 1972 Adventure 8.0
Alphaville
Attack the Gas Station aka Juyuso seubgyuksageun
1999 Comedy (VIFF South Korea) 7.9
Amarcord 1974 Comedy/Foreign (Italian) Dir. Fellini 8.1
An Autumn Afternoon aka Sanma No Aji 1964 8.3
Avventura è l’avventura, L’ 1972? Adv/Com (France/Italy)
Atanarjuat,The Fast Runner 2001 Canada Inuit 7.6
Battleship Potemkin 1925
Drama/War/Foreign (Soviet Union B&W Silent) 8.4
Belle noiseuse, La 1991 Drama/Foreign (French) 7.5
Betty Blue/372 Le Matin 1986 Comedy/Drama/Foreign (French) 7.0
Bicycle Thief aka Ladri di biciclette 1948 Drama/Foreign (Italian) 8.6
Bride with White Hair (pramas)
Brighter Summer Day, A aka Guling jie shaonian sha ren shijian 1991 (Taiwan) 6.8
Burning Paradise 94 (pramas)
Burnt by the Sun 7.5 1994
Cabaret Balkan (Bure Baruta, 1998 Yugoslavian) (Serbo-Croatian) 7.1
Children of Heaven (Iran) (Bacheha-Ye aseman) 1997 7.4
Dersu Uzala 1974 Adv/Dra Akira Kurosawa 8.1
Discrete Charm of the Bourgeoisie, The 1972 Com (French) 8.1
Diva 1996 Animation (Portugal)
Dragon Gate Inn (pramas)
Drifting Clouds aka Kauas pilvet karkaavat 1996 Com (Finland) 7.5
Elephant 2003 Gus van Sant
Gui da gui/Encounters of the Spooky Kind 1980 wuxia 7.3
Europa Europa 1990
Festen 1998 aka The Celebration 1998 (Denmark) 8.4
Filantropica 9.0 comedy
Flowers of Shanghai 1998 (Taiwan) 7.8
Friend (vff 2001 selection, south korea)
The goddess of 1967 (angela)
Gojoe senki 2000 Action/Foreign (Japan VIFF) 7.0
Good Morning (Yasujiro Ozu, 1959)
Goya in Bordeaux 1999 Drama/Foreign (VIFF, spain) 6.1
Hana-bi /Fireworks 1997 Com/Crime/Thriller (Japanese) Kitano 7.7
Hidden Fortress 1958 Kurosawa 7.8
Ikiru (Akira Kurosawa, 1952
In praise of love (eloge de l’amour) (angela)
Indochine 1992 Drama/Romance (French?) 6.9
Insomnia 1997 Thriller/Foreign (Norwegian) 7.0
Intacto 2001 (italian) 7.3 VIFF
Irréversible 2002 french VIFF 7.1
Kandahar/ Safar e Ghandehar
2001 Iran/France
Kin-Dza-Dza 8.7 russian sci fi com
Kings of the Road / Im Lauf der Zeit 1976 (Germany B&W) 8.3
L’eau Froide 1994 Foreign/Drama ??
Moment of Innocence aka Nun va Goldoon 1996 foreign 8.4
Mimi wo sumaseba aka Whisper of the Heart 1995 ghibli (Japanese) 8.9
Mr Vampire 1985 7.5
My Sassy Girl/Yeopgijeogin geunyeo, rom/com South Korea 2001 8.4
Nouvelle vague 1990 Drama (French) 6.9
No Man’s Land (Bosnia) 2001 8.1
Nuovo cinema Paradiso (aka Cinema Paradiso) (1989 8.3
Ohayo (Good Morning) Japan 1959 8.2
Oldboy (Korean) 8.6
Once Upon a Time in the West /C’era una volta il West 1969 Henry Fonda (Italian) 8.6
Our Lady of the Assassins (angela)
Persona aka Kinematografi 1966 Drama (Swedish) 8.2
Princess and the Warrior 2000 Germany
Raise the Red Lantern / Da hong deng long gao gao gua 1991
Ran 1985 Drama/War (Japanese) 8.4
Rules of the Game (French) 1939 8.2
Sanjuro 1962 Action/Adv (Japan B&W) Dir: Kurosawa 8.0
Sanshô dayû aka Sansho the Bailiff 1954 Drama/Foreign (Japan) 9.4!!!
Santa Sangre 1989 7.0
Sátántangó 1994 Drama/Foreign (Hungarian) 6.9
Sonatine 1993 Action/Drama/Crime (Japan) 7.5
Subway 1985 Crim/Rom/Thril/Foreign (French) Dir:Luc Besson 6.3
Swordsman II (1992 Jet Li) 7.3
Tai chi master (1993) Jet Li 7.0
Tampopo (1985) 7.6
Tender Place (2001 vff selection japan)
A time for drunken horses 2000 7.5
Ikiru/To Live! (china 1952 8.1)
Tokyo Drifter 1966 7.3
Tokyo Olympiad (Kon Ichikawa, 1965
Tokyo Story aka Tokyo monogatari 1953 8.3
Tosun Pasa 9.1 Turkish comedy
Town is Quiet (La Ville est Tranquille) 2000 8.0
Triumph of the Will (nazi propaganda film) 1935 7.4
Ugetsu Monogatari 1953 8.4
Vive l’amour aka Aiqing wansui 1994 (Taiwan) 7.4
Wings of Desire aka Himmel über Berlin, Der
1987 Fantasy 8.0
Zu: Warriors of the Magic Mountain 1983 6.6
Weekend Update with Toren Atkinson
BURNING WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL!
I am now playing a biweekly BURNING WHEEL game. Burning Wheel is a roleplaying game where the players have a lot more say in creating the world than in D&D. And the characters are much more fleshed out. And the rewards are not XPs. So far I’m enjoying it! However it has caused me to forget to tape LIFE OF BIRDS two consecutive times.
BIKE
I’ve taken my bike in to 3 different places to get fixed over the past year. You may remember I’ve complained here about how most of them aren’t open on Mondays. Anyway I think I’ve finally settle on Cyclepath, since one of the staff is a Thickets fan, that’s my best in for service and value! Cashing in the rock chips! Today I biked downtown to Elfsar and back, and tonight I biked to Burnaby and back for Joe’s housewarming, where I played some X-Box Guitar Hero. Joe was telling me they have Settlers of Catan for X-Box now.
COMICS
At free comics day I got some Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse comics! Also I purchased a sizeable chunk of ‘how to’ books, including WRITING FOR COMICS WITH PETER DAVID and INKING THE DC WAY. I also bought this crazy book called THE FANTASY FIGURE ARTIST’S REFERENCE FILE which has some pretty cheeseball stuff in it but also some nice photos of belts. Which is important.
56 MOVIES TO GO
On imdb.com, you can give movies a rating between 1 and 10, and also submit reviews. Over the past few years I’ve been inputting ratings of movies that I’ve seen as well as movies I remember well enough to give a faithful rating. I’m up to 944 titles. It’s my goal to hit 1000 in as short a time as possible, so I have to go now and watch something.
Here’s my list by the way [link]
Summer Blockbuster Spoilage
Remember this? It ran before 9/11.
I’m trying to figure out if the black costume in Spidey 3 is going to be from space. I’m betting it is. So it seems we’ve got three forces that Parker is up against – Sandman, Hobgoblin and the parasite costume/Venom. Too much for one movie? I guess we’ll have to wait and see. I don’t usually speculate on movies before I see them, but I was explaining to Joyous that in the comics J.Jonah Jameson’s son, who Mary Jane almost married in the second movie, became a some kind of werewolf, and that the parasite costume came from another planet/universe during the Secret Wars comic book miniseries. Now, I’d love to see a Secret Wars movie, though I’m sure it would be terrible, but I doubt very much that they’ll keep that origin for the black costume in Spidey 3. I’m guessing maybe JJ’s son brings it back from some space mission. But that’s just a guess. But the good news is that Dylan Baker reprises his role as Dr Connors (who we comic book fans all know becomes The Lizard) in the new film.
So anyway, here’s a shot from the Iron Man movie, which is interesting. I imagine it’s the first prototype in the storyline.
And here’s a shot from Transformers. I still don’t like how pointy they seem to be.
I just read that Sci Fi Channel is making a Flash Gordon TV series. I like that!
The Veil
The Celluloid Social Club is a monthly Vancouver institution that I wish I had more time to get involved with. But…
from Mike Jackson:
Hi folks! The extended cut of the Veil is FINALLY getting a Vancouver screening, at next Wednesday’s Celluloid Social Club (details below)! It’s Ken Hegan’s last time as MC, so it’s likely to be packed. Anyway, hope to see some (or all) of you down there!
The Veil will also be getting its Austrailian premiere in a couple of weeks at the ‘Night of Horror’ film festival in Sydney – Its sixth festival.
Hope all’s well with everyone. All the best,
-M
The CELLULOID SOCIAL CLUB
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21st, 2007
FEATURING the WORLD PREMIERE of
BIF NAKEDs New Music Video
MY GREATEST MASTERPIECEin support of the THEATRICAL RELEASE of CROSSING
ALSO FEATURING SEVERAL FILMS ON A ZOMBIE THEME
in support of the THEATRICAL RELEASE of FIDO
with a Q&A with the director ANDREW CURRIE
ALSO FEATURING THE POPULAR YouTube WEBISERIES DONOVAN LIFE
directed by ROGER EVAN LARRY
starring SEBASTIAN SPENCE and CRYSTAL BUBLEPARTY FOLLOWING SCREENING:
BON VOYAGE PARTY for our HOST of 9 YEARS
KEN HEGAN
and THE COLD READING SERIES PRODUCER
SARAH NIXEY
as THEY JOURNEY to TORONTO for 1 YEARDoors – 7:30pm Show – 8:00pm
The ANZA Club, #3 West 8th Ave. at Ontario St., Vancouver, B.C.www.celluloidsocialclub.com
604-734-8339 Admission – $5.00 at the door
You will remember The Veil as the short Lovecraftian film that I was involved with.